I have saved the best for last. It is the Force-on-force scenarios. Shooting and moving and drawing from concealment definitely helps in your ability to shoot and survive but Force-on-force truly tests your ability to deal with potential targets that move, talk, get angry, get scared and try to scare you.

In Force-on-force you take a lot more in than just a shooting exercise. You can read body language and interact with others who you haven't designated as a bad guy or not. You have the ability to leave a situation before it gets hairy, most of the time, and you are encouraged to act the way you would act in real life.

In Force-on-force you can be armed with a simunitions gun, which is a real gun modified to only shoot simuntion rounds. Which sting like heck and leave a blue mark where you've been hit. If you carry a knife they arm you with a rubber knife and if you carry a cell phone or pepper spray they give those to you too.

When a bad guy dons a FIST suit (fully padded suit of armor) on you may, if required to, strike and kick and punch the bad guy.

This is as real as you can come to a violent confrontation without having to paying someone to mug, beat, rob, rape or kill you. You'd be surprised at how many people, off the street, look at you funny and walk the other way (FAST) when you say, "I'm training. I want you to attack me full force and hurt me....."

Here is a photo of what you have to first go through to enter Force-on-force. You are thoroughly searched from head to toe for any real weapons that maybe used reflexively against any of the role players. Even the role players are searched and so are the ROs. Anyone who enters must go through this process to insure no one brings in a live weapon or anything that can bring a training day to a drastic and fatal end. I suggest and demand anyone doing force-on-force scenarios incorporate this into their pre-scenario routine if they aren't already.

Oh yeah and one more thing.... If you give big Willie any problems in the day, he takes out the latex gloves and brings new meaning to the term, "thorough search."

During the scenario you put on a neck brace and keep your shooting glasses on and put on an industrial face shield to protect your face from the sims round. Unless it's this scenario......

This scenario is a non-weapon scenario. You aren't allowed to arm yourself with a sim gun or knife because it is taking place on a plane.

You are told your designated seat is right in front of a blue FIST suited middle eastern looking fellow who is seated at the back of the plane and to hurry up the plane is about to take off.

As you sit down you notice and hear he is chanting very loud and fast, which made me uncomfortable.

I felt very uncomfortable having this individual sitting directly behind me. So, I moved over to the other seat so that I can see him out of the corner of my eye. As I do this a screaming lunatic comes out of first class holding a knife screaming the plane is his and starts to shove one of the passengers up front.....

Here is a photo of another practitioner going through the scenario.

What would you do?

Ross T.

P.S. Anyone who is interested in attending either the study group or NTI is encouraged to come. If you are even remotely interested in self defense and getting the training you need to survive I would suggest checking it out one of these Saturdays.